Last Sacrifice – the Alternative
by JoLi7y
Summary: This is how I envision Last sacrifice ending. I will try to make it compatible with blood lines.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, y'all!(I've a;ways wanted to say that) I just had to write that while it was in my head. I don't have a Beta but if someone is interested, PM me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. It would be too troublesome if I did *wink* *wink*

To get you into the story - it starts at the end of chapter 29 of the book, so that would be when Rose and Dimitri rekindle their relationship after the incident with Victor.

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><p>Chapter One<p>

…I didn't throw myself at him and how could I, after what I've done. But that just strengthened my resolve to tell him now. I knew it was cruel, to tell him in a dream but I couldn't wait to when we will meet and have time to talk. It was now or never, as they say.

"Little Dhampir" he said, with a big smile on his face. It hurt me even more that it had to be me that will wipe it off his handsome face. But I had to do it. It was the honorable thing to do. "How are you?"

"Adrian, I have to tell you something. Sit down." And just as I said it I realized where we were – an amazing garden, rivaling Sonya's, there were flowers, so many flowers, that the aroma was suffocating. There was also a bench, made of wood and brass. It was really beautiful and I was hit with another wave of guilt for doing what I was doing but it had to be done. He looked worried but sat nonetheless. "I…We…I can't do that anymore, I can't lie to you not when I know what you feel for me. Please let me finish" I said when he started to interrupt me. "Last night I did something awful. I will spare you the details but it got me thinking that what I'm doing with you is not honorable to you. I'm leading you on, it was wrong of me to let us get to where we are now, when I knew I still had feelings for another. I know that you knew I still loved Dmitri but… Oh God, it's so hard. I don't want to hurt you more. I didn't want to do it in a dream, that's like to break up with someone over the phone but I had to do it sooner. I couldn't allow myself to lead you on more. Not when…" here I stopped myself before I said something to hurt him more. He didn't want him to hear more than what needed to be said. That's when I allowed myself to look at him. He looked crestfallen, heartbroken and angry at the same time.

"You…You…I don't know what to say. I love you, Rose, you know that." He started slowly, then he voice gained emotion till he was almost shouting. "I can't believe one thing though – I can't believe that you didn't have the decency to tell me that before you jumped Belikov's bones." I looked at him dumbfounded and then noticed that he was looking at my body, not my face. I looked down and for the first time noticed that I wasn't wearing any clothes. I was just as I had gone to bed, after Dimitri and I had had sex. I couldn't understand how he knew what I had done, but it wasn't too hard to guess, I suppose. But I couldn't think about that now. I had to make him understand. But before I could open my mouth, hew continued talking. "I knew you could be cruel but not that cruel. I guess you hardly care for people's feelings, people that aren't that close to you, that is." I was fuming. How could he say that? This time I didn't let him talk.

"How could you say that! How could you say that I don't care for other people's feelings. If I didn't care about their feelings I wouldn't be here trying my hardest to do the honorable thing and let you go. I could've waited for when we were together and talked to you then. And who knows when would that have been and what could've happened in the mean time. So don't say I don't care for people's feelings." I was almost shouting now. And then something in me broke and I just had to say what was on my mind, like my filter had gone on a much needed vacation. "You can't accuse me of anything of the sort, Adrian Ivashkov, when you don't know what I have been going through. You don't know what it's like when every time you close your eyes to see certain people's faces" before it was only Mason, 'cause I still felt responsible for his death, now it was Victor too. "You don't know what it's like, when every time I go out of a warded place to see ghosts – both of known and unknown people, their sad faces pleading with me to help them, and giving me one hell of a headache at the same time. You don't know what I've been doing to save Lissa since the accident and after that, when we got back to St Vlads; you don't know how hard I had to try to rid myself of my feelings for my mentor, knowing that in the end it will only hurt my best friend's safety. I've been denying myself so much for her, don't get me wrong I love Lissa, but when I went and did something purely for me, when I went to Russia, you know what she did – she tried to compel me to stay. Then, when I got to Russia, I was constantly being harassed by, what I later found out was my father, to go away; I found it extremely hard to finish my mission. When I thought I had, I found that there could have been a way to save him and be with him again. When I came back and asked around I found out that I had to help an enemy to escape out of prison so that I could get the needed information. At the same time I found out that I had failed in my mission and I was being threatened by the same person I had tried to kill. Then I helped said enemy to escape said prison, ran to Vegas, which you know about. Then when we came back I was bombarded with as much as possible work, entirely not related to guarding. Then my best friend and her boyfriend, who I consider a brother, were kidnapped by my ex mentor/lover for the sole reason that he could get to me and kill me. Then he got saved, by some miracle, but that changed him to no end. He didn't want to see me, after all I had done for him. He didn't want to even hear for me. He saw Lissa as hi savior when she only drove a stake through his heart, while I broke so many laws just to get information. Then when I pushed him too hard he said he didn't love me anymore. I didn't know a heart could be broken twice but mine was. I'm sorry to say that even you couldn't mend it together. And that was in the last couple of months. Tell me, Adrian, what is the hardest thing you've done before you had to break me out of prison?" I was panting now, having forgotten to breathe while giving in to my urges to take this off my chest. When I looked at him he was looked flustered. Then I felt something that I haven't till now in a dream walk - I was being awakened. So I looked at Adrian and told him one last thing. "Please think about what I've told you. I want you to know that I still love you, like a brother. I wish it was more, that it was enough to rid of my old feelings but… When you have decided what you want to do, call, text, find a way to contact me. There's just one thing that I ask of you – place yourself in my shoes" Then I woke up to the smiling face of my Russian god. The smile was breathtaking, the glowing of his eyes – mesmerizing.

"Morning, Roza. Sleep well?" he asked with that smile still on his face.

"Morning, Comrade. Yeah I did." I said with my men-eater smile

I just wanted to reach up and kiss him but knew I couldn't. I had to tell him something too. I guess today was a day for me to ruin everyone's moods. "Comrade, I have to tell you something. I talked with Adrian. I broke it off with him." He looked at me sympathetically. "Now I have to tell you something and maybe you won't like it."

"What is it, Roza? You're starting to scare me" he said wit a concerned look on his face.

"Maybe…It's unintentional. I'll say it right out – You need to forgive yourself. You think that you have, but you haven't. And until you do we can't be together like we used to be."

"Roza, that' easier said that done. You don't know what it's like to close your eyes and see al those faces, with yours being the most prominent, and when I open my eyes they are there again. I can't escape them." He said sorrowfully.

"Comrade, that's double standards and I don't like it. You think I don't know what it's like, think again. You have a fresh example too, but I found it in myself to forgive, to let go, because of you, because I wanted to be with you and you told me you love me. But if you can't do the same then we'll be over. It won't be fair to you or me. Please, Comrade, just about it." I wasn't below begging. I needed him in my life but not to just be in it, but to be with me, like we were.

"I…I'll try, Roza. But I can't guarantee you anything."

"That's all I ask, Dimitri. Now I'm going to take a shower. We have a long day ahead of us." I said and walked off, all the while feeling his lustful gaze on me.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey peoples! Here is chapter two. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer is the same as the last one. I don't like repeating myseld much.

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><p>Chapter Two<p>

When I got in the shower I got thinking. Of course the first thing on my mind was the night I had with Dimitri. But I got rid of these thoughts and started making plans for today. First of all we had to figure out how to get the information from the alchemist and to find out who killed the queen; second we had to figure out how to get into Court and present Jill as the last Dragomir; and last but not least, how to clear my name and Dimitri's by default. For the last minutes of my shower I got back to thinking of last night – the magical night with Dimitri and how cruel I was to Adrian but it had to be done. After I finished I had a huge smile on my face. Then I realized that I hadn't gotten clothes so I got out to look for some, only in my towel.

"What has you smiling like that?" Dimitri asked when he saw me, while he was trying, and failing miserably, to hide his lust filled expression.

"If you must know – it's you, the reason I smile." His face lit like the sun when I said that. "But don't forget your promise" I added with some guilt, for ruining his happy mood.

His face fell. "I won't…Oh, Sonya dropped by and left these for you" he continued, while he threw me some clothes – black slacks and a white button-up shirt. I felt like at Victor's trial. I smiled.

"Thanks. Oh, would you mind calling Jill and Sonya here so that we can plan where we go from now." I asked him with a smile. He just nodded while still looking at my body. I went back to the bathroom to dress and make my hair. While doing that my mind wondered back to Adrian, how hurt he looked when I told him that we have to break up, it broke my heart. But it was what had to be done, it was the honorable thing to do.

When I got out they were all in the room waiting for me. "Rose are you okay?" Jill asked me. I guess I couldn't hide what I was thinking before I walked out.

"Yeah, Jill, don't worry. I was just thinking about Adrian and how hurt he looked." I said. Dimitri's face fell a bit and Jill looked confused. I told her with just a look that I would tell her later. "Now we have to figure out a few things. First we need to talk with one of the alchemists, Ian, he knew something that he didn't tell the other guardians. Then we have to figure how to get inside Court and present you, Jill, and last but not least – to clear our names." I said in a commanding tone.

"We need someone we can trust, someone who is inside Court and is out of suspicion and won't be difficult for him to help us." Sonya started saying, while I was thinking and I figured someone. Then I turned to Dimitri and he had the same look on his face, like he had figured someone too.

"Mikhail" we said at the same time. We looked around and Jill looked confused, while Sonya…well, she was almost heartbroken. I turned to Dimitri smiled lightly "Comrade, would you mind going out to find us some coffee and something to eat, while we have a girl chat" He just nodded and went out. I stood up and went to hug Sonya. The moment she got in my arms she started crying her eyes out.

"Rose, how did you do it. I still feel immense guilt over what I've done while I was turned. I know Dimitri's point of view and how he feels and felt, I also know your feelings for him and for what he has done. I don't know, though, how Mikhail will react? How will he feel towards me now?" She was crying so hard. I felt horrible for her. Jill looked shocked and scared. I beckoned her closer and then I went on to comfort Sonya.

"Look, he loves you so much. When I got to Court to look for the prison's blueprints, Mikhail found me looking in the archives and when I told him what I was looking for and why, he was the one who helped me. He knew how I felt, he could relate so he helped me. I know how he felt because he couldn't save you. He did it because he wanted at one of us to have his happy ending. He also helped me a lot when I escaped. Don't ever doubt his love." I stated, hoping to convince her. Then I looked at Jill, who looked like a lost puppy, so I decided now was as good time as any to tell her my whole story. So I looked at her and it was like with Adrian, when my filter had gone south. I just couldn't stop. "Jill, I will tell you everything now, I just ask that you keep it to yourself." She nodded. "About the remark to Adrian – I was going out with him, it was an arrangement after I came back from Russia. I had promised him a chance with me and I kept my promise. But that was when turning strigoi back was just a myth. When Dimitri was back I just wanted to jump back into his arms, but he pushed me away. So I tried with Adrian, this time more determined to make it happen. But Fate has strange plans, for my love life, it seems. I'm portraying my imprisonment. I had to be with him 24/7 for the last weeks and I tried to tell myself that my feelings were lessening but with no such luck. My love for Dimitri will always be big, filling my whole heart, but at the same time I developed feelings for Adrian and they were the reason that I had to be truthful with him - that nothing will happen between us. I hurt him so much but it was the honorable thing to do. As for my relationship with Dimitri…It started when we got back to the Academy, after Liss and I had run away. We tried so hard to ignore it but it was bigger and stronger than us. When we allowed ourselves to express what we felt it was…I don't have words for it, but it was short-lived. Because then the attack happened and he was turned. Then I made my decision to find him and free him from the misery of being undead, like we had promised each other so ling ago. That didn't turn out as planned because when I found him he got the better of me and had me as a prisoner for a while. I won't lie there was a time that I felt like he was back with me, but soon I realized that it was all a dream and I had to do my mission. I thought I did, I thought I had killed him and I felt elated and awful, at the same time. When I got back I found out that I had failed. H e started sending me threatening notes. Then I found out that there was a method to bring back someone from being a strigoi. I was hell bent to find all the information possible. Than plan backfired on me when we saved him. He felt so grateful to Lissa, even though all she did was drive a piece of silver through him. Not that I'm ungrateful but I did all the other work and he didn't acknowledge it. And that, along with the statement that he didn't love me anymore, hurt too much. So I tried to back off…But you can't tell your heart what or how to feel and for whom. So that is our story." I said taking a breath. I looked at them and they had a look of sympathy and something else that I couldn't place. Then I followed their gaze over my shoulder only to see a pair of pained brown eyes staring intently at my back. I could see al the despair, regret and love in them. But I also could see all the questions there. I just shook my head in a way to say 'we'll talk later'. That's when Jill's phone went off. She picked up with a surprised look on her face. Then she looked at me and told me.

"Adrian wants to talk to you."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again! Here is the new chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: You chould know it by heart.

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><p>Chapter Three<p>

"Hello" I said, with hands shaking and my voice trembling. I walked carefully to the bathroom, this was not a conversation that I wanted overheard.

"Hi, Rose" he said. 'OK' I thought, 'he said _Rose_, I can live with that'. "I…thought about what you told me last night. A lot. And I tried placing myself in your shoes but…I kept coming blank because I would have died after the first or second encounter. I can, somewhat, understand you but it will be harder for me to let you go. While thinking I found out that my feelings have changed." My breath caught in my throat.

"And…"

"Don't panic, you can't get rid of me that easily. But I found that my love has turned from romantic to sibling, I love you like a sister now. And I'm happy. This way you can still be in my life and I in yours, Little Dhampir." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, while my face split into a grand smile.

"You have no idea how I missed that endearment."

"Yeah, I do." He said cockily.

"Don't be such a smartass…Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me – that you will stay in my life…Adrian, I hate doing this but I need a favor. I need you to find and talk to Mikhail Tanner and tell him to come to the town, where they keep the alchemists. There he has to find their hotel and near it there is a shopping centre. Tell him to wait for us there in five hours. Thanks, Adrian." I told him.

"Little Dhampir, wait. I have a message for you."

"From who?"

"Your dad. He said, and I quote 'What the fuck, were you two thinking!' He's not very pleasant when he is mad, is he?" he said. I just smiled – that statement meant that he was scared for me.

"Can you relate a message back?" I asked.

"Umm…you can tell them yourself." He said uncertainly.

"Who's _'them'_" I asked.

"Your mom and dad, of course. They're here and you already are on speaker. "

"Hi, mommy, daddy" I tried.

"Rosemarie, flattery won't get you anywhere. Where are you?" my mother was pissed.

"Kiz, really, what were you thinking?" Abe said, but there was something soft in his voice. Probably because I called him _'daddy'_.

"Well, Baba, I just had to do run an errand while on the run. Don't worry too much, you'll know in due time." I said. "Now you know how I felt when I didn't have any information. But I, unlike you, will tell you soon."

"Rose, be careful." He said.

"Adrian, who is my mother?" I asked out of the blue.

"Janine Hathaway"

"And who is my father?"

"Uh...Ibrahim Mazur"

"Point proven, Baba" I said triumphantly.

"OK, Kiz, I get it, you're badass. But that does not mean that we don't worry about you." He said, with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Oh, Dad… you don't have to worry that much – I've got your strength and mom's stubbornness. I'm badass squared." I laughed a little. "OK, people I've got to go, I've work to do. Love you all." I said and hung up. I walked out of the room smiling. My family was almost whole – I had my brothers, Christian (even if I don't show it, I love Sparky like my brother, even more after Spokane), Eddie and now Adrian, my sister, Lissa, my parents, who were on the path of getting back together. What was missing was my love, but he had a job to do before he can be part of the family. When I walked out of the bathroom I looked around the room – my eyes first stopped on my Russian god, he was sitting on the bed utterly depressed. Then they got to Sonya and Jill, they were sitting on the couch talking quietly. I went to them and gave Jill her phone back.

"Adrian says 'Hi'" I told her. Her face lit up immediately. "OK, so we have a little less than five hours to rest, before we have to go. So, ladies, go rest, and when it's time to go, we'll call you." They nodded and left the room. I turned back to Dimitri and went to the bed. "Comrade, talk to me. No matter what about. Just talk, it helps." I told him. He took a deep breath.

"How can you stand there like that, Roza? After all I've done to you! I mean…I reduced you to the thing you despise most in your life – I remember when I first took you back to the Academy, while in Kirova's office, when you were making your point, how you said that word with so much disdain in your voice. And then I just had to make you into what you hate most. I'm such a monster." He shook his head dejectedly. "And the when I pushed you away, it was like my heart was breaking to million pieces but I had to do it, because I thought that that would be my punishment for what I did to you. But I wasn't strong enough. At first I told myself that it was for your own good, that one day you will forgive me and you will let me be in your life, even if just as a friend or a fellow guardian. But as time past I understood that I had done it for myself mostly, so that I'm not reminded non-stop about what I did to you. But it turned out that it was fruitless – every time I close my eyes, I've told you I see the multiple faces of the people I've killed, but most times it's just you – lying there on the bed, with that far away look, after I had _fed_ on you" he spat the word 'fed'. "And I can't stop thinking about it. I tried telling myself it was for your own good, but I failed that too." He looked so miserable.

"Dimitri, we talked about this already – that was not you. As for when you were avoiding me, I can understand where you were coming from. If the table were turned, I probably would have done the same thing. Do you remember that night, in the ski lodge, the night of the ball when I had a row with my mother?" he nodded. "Well…do you remember what I told you then, about Tasha's offer - that I want you to be happy. I get that you wanted me to be happy, but you never considered the fact that I was happiest with you. I love you, so damn much. One of the reasons is your selflessness – what you did, pushing me away, I count that as part of you selfless nature. While everything I did, to save you – rushing to Russia, finding the cure, busting Victor out of jail, promising Adrian a chance, though if I have to be honest I did that just to get him on board, I wasn't planning on coming back, or staying alive, after killing you. You are my other half and I couldn't live without you. Everything I did, I did with my heart in mind, with selfish reasons. Even when you came back to hunt me, I already knew of the cure, and when the opportunity presented herself to save you for real and get you back, I again thought about me, I didn't even consider that I would hurt Adrian or something else. I just needed you in my life. Yes, it hurt when you said those four words but I kept telling myself that you were safe and that was all that should have mattered. Since we escaped I kept trying to tell myself that my feelings were fading but they weren't, I found that last night, when you told me you love me. Then I realized that my feelings will never fade…So you see, everything I've done regarding you, I've done for purely selfish reasons, and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm proud of what I did and I would change very little if I could go back. So stop punishing yourself." I said, trying to catch my breath after my tirade.

"Oh, Roza…" he said, like I was giving him the answer he's been looking for for all of his life. "It will take me more time to forgive myself, I won't lie to you, but I'm getting there, steadily." He smiled tentatively. I just smiled back, laid him down, while lying next to him and we both drifted off for a while. Both happy and smiling, feeling the moment and treasuring it.

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><p>A.N. Sorry for repeatedly reposting this chapter.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Hi, guys! Sorry for the late update, but my muse desided taht Sunday was a good day for a rest.

Disclaimer:...Nah, I'm not going to bore you again with that.

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><p>Chapter Four<p>

We met Sonya and Jill in the lobby. I told them where we must get and we hopped on the car. While driving I told them why we were going there.

"I need to talk with the alchemist, Ian. He knew something tat he hid from the guardians. Sonya I'll need you to make me an amulet which can hide my real look." She nodded and I gave her the locket that was on my neck. Then, for the remainder of the drive I slipped in Lissa's head to see how the second-last-exam was going. Lissa was just getting out of her room with her escorts. Today it consisted of my mother, playing the role of her guardian, Christian and Tasha. Christian was encouraging her, whispering in her ear, Tasha and my mother just stayed silent.

"You'll do great. Don't sweat so much over it." He said, while caressing her arm. Her confidence went up a little just by having him next to her. She still felt guilty over what she did with Aaron, but it was quickly dissipating. She just wished I was there too, she needed my brass comments and sassy attitude. She just missed me so much. _Don't worry, Liss, I'm coming._ I thought to myself. That's when something in Lissa's mind changed – she thought she heard my voice. But she dismissed it like it was just her wishful thinking. I was just as confused but before I could investigate further, there was a voice calling her name. Lissa turned to the source – it was Serena, waving to the group and in her hand a piece of paper.

"Princess, wait. I got you the information you asked about. It's all here." She gave the paper to Lissa. Lissa just stared at it for a few seconds then showed to the others. Christian was the first to regain his composure and comment.

"There's like almost all of the royal families and a few non-royal too. Aunt Tasha did you know about this?"

"No, even if there is a representative from our family." And it was true – there was almost twenty people on that list, and twelve of them were from royal families, and the other were non-royal. What surprised me, and Lissa too, was the name of Adrian's mother being on that list. I knew that she didn't like the idea of Moroi fighting at all. Lissa voiced our concern.

"Daniela Ivashkov? I thought she didn't want to fight. She was all about the age decree. What the…" she was confused.

"Daniela, everyone knew, didn't like the queen much. The feeling was mutual. I don't know what possessed Tatiana to include her in the trainings." Tasha mused aloud. There was something in the way she said that, that made me uneasy.

"OK, everyone, we've got to go. Princess, you'll be late, otherwise." My mother, always the professional, said.

"Yeah, you're right. The lady is polite and generous but strict…" she trailed, while walking towards the room where her exam will take place.

"The lady…"my mother trailed, a sly smile forming on her face. "Oh, you mean her Majesty Ekaterina Zeklos? " she continued slyly.

"Her…her Majesty?" Lissa stuttered. That was the queen before Tatiana, she was rumored to have retired to her private island, to be away from all politics.

"Yeah, it's tradition where the old monarch tests their heir. In our case that will be impossible, so they called her in." my mother explained. That just stumped Lissa on her spot. Now, more that ever, she was scared about how will she answer the question. Then she was embarrassed about the way she talked to the lady on their first meeting. After a little more thought she decided that whatever happened happened, she would go in there with her head held high. She didn't want to disgrace her family name, she didn't want those visions, form the other exam, becoming true. She wanted to be worthy, even if she couldn't really become queen yet. In that moment I realized that my best friend would become a great leader. That was when the group stopped in front of the building, where the examination took place. Lissa turned to her companions.

"Thanks for escorting me. Serena, thanks for the list. I'll think over it after the test. Chris, I love you." the last was whispered in his ear. He just hugged her tighter and whispered back.

"I love you too. And just so you know – you'll do an amazing queen. I already consider you _my_ queen." Who knew Sparky could be so romantic. There was one thing that we were on the same page – Lissa would be a great queen. Then Lissa kissed him and went in. She hardly heard the people around her yelling her name and screaming about the returned dragon. Then she entered the room. The lady was sitting in her chair, looking relaxed. Like she didn't have to listen to a bunch of show off's talk why they should become king/queen of the Moroi.

"Hello again. Well, miss Dragomir, can you tell me what should a queen possess for her to be a good leader?" she asked with a pleasant smile. Lissa got the feeling that she was the only one the lady could tolerate. That got Lissa thinking, though. She still couldn't figure out the answer. She flexed her hands and her fingers touched something – the paper that Serena had given her, she hadn't put it in her pocket. She thought about the names on it and that gave her her answer.

"She has to have her subjects trust." She said confidently, with her head held high. The lady smiled.

"You are truly your grandfather's granddaughter. He would have been proud. As would have been you parents and other family." Lissa felt a pang of loneliness, she missed her only family member – me, her sister. _Not long now, Liss, I'm coming._ I thought again. Her mind jerked like she heard me, just like last time. But now she couldn't afford to lose focus, she will investigate later. She turned to the lady. "You will make a great queen, Vasilissa, I hope your speech is ready for tomorrow. That will be the easiest test." She smiled at her.

"Yeah. But they won't let me participate in the elections. And I don't want to. I think that Miss Shelsky will make a great leader." Lissa said, while standing up from her chair.

"Oh…I thought you would have heard already. She…she didn't make it trough this exam. The Shelsky's competitor is out of the running. Well, miss Dragomir, you are free to go. Have a nice day!" Lissa bowed her head and left the room, a hundred thought running through her head a mile a minute. And I left her head, more certain that ever that my best friend will be the next Moroi queen. When I returned to my head I looked around the car – Sonya was still working on the locket, Jill was looking at her curiously, and Dimitri was looking at me questioningly.

"Everything alright there?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah, and it's going to get even better when we get there. Trust me" I said with a wink. He just shook his head exasperatedly. Twenty minutes later we were at the shopping centre's parking, waiting for the others. Sonya gave me my locket and I tried it – it gave me shorter and a shade darker hair and my eyes changed to golden brown. I turned around in the car, Jill looked amazed. I turned to Dimitri but his eyes were trained on the road. Then something strange happened, it was like Lissa was talking in my head, but the voice wasn't hers. _Oh, you look like a goddess, Roza_ It was like Dimitri was in my head, which was almost impossible. I shook my head and took it off. Then there was another car pulling in front of us. We were already out of the car – Dimitri and I were standing at the front, holding hands and looking ahead, Sonya and Jill were on the side, talking. The car stopped and out came two figures. The first stopped at her door starring to the side of our car, when I turned I saw Sonya frozen on her spot starring at the other car. From the other side of the car, the other figure came towards us and I couldn't believe my eyes – it was Adrian. I let go of Dimitri's hand and ran to him, he opened his arms and hugged me with all of his might. And I…I felt relieved – yes I knew he forgave me, but the physical evidence was just as much needed.

"Hey, little Dhampir. How you've been? Life on the run is good for you." He laughed and it was so carefree that I couldn't believe that I had broken his heart just a day ago. "By the way, your man is looking like…" he trailed because just then there was movement from both of our cars. Sonya started running to Mikhail the same time he ran toward her. They met in the middle and hugged so fiercely and we all looked away from their intimate moment. I turned back to Adrian.

"Wha…How did you manage that?" I asked.

"No one can refuse the grieving grand nephew to go out." He smirked. "As I was saying – your Russian is going to kill me, his aura is so colorful." I just turned to Dimitri and was momentarily blinded by colors – dominantly dark, almost black, blue, along with red and gold, a rich, rich gold, and green along the edges. I looked at his eyes and I was sure mine had the same look, wonderment, amazement and shock. I tuned back to Adrian.

"What do you see, Adrian, tell me?"

"Well…lots of blue, dark almost black, also green, red and gold." I was shell shocked – the same I saw. Somehow I could see his aura. I turned to Sonya and Mikhail, who were still hugging and talking quietly, and I could see nothing, I looked to Jill and again saw nothing. But when I looked at Dimitri I saw all the colors again. Adrian continued "I can understand the green, red and the gold, jealousy, anger and love, but I can't understand the blue" he mused. I looked back at Dimitri again, I could see the anger and jealousy in his eyes now too. And also some kind of longing. I looked at his aura the blue was getting deeper, richer, and when his eyes locked on mine the gold in his aura flared, brighter that ever. Somehow I knew he could also see my aura, I don't know what colors it had but I knew that the moment our eyes locked my gold would flare just as his.

"Depression and regret." Then I pulled him to the car. Jill had moved and was now standing closer to Dimitri, but not next to him. So I got next to him again and took his hand. Adrian looked at me curiously. Then I looked back at Sonya and Mikhail, and then back at my Russian god – the blue in his aura flared even more, but this time it a sad undertone. "And pain" I said, looking in his eyes. What I saw in them was the same thing that I knew he saw in mine.

"What?" asked Jill. I looked at Dimitri, then at Adrian, who somehow knew what I meant, and shook my head. Then Sonya and Mikhail came to us.

"Thank you, Rose, you don't know what you gave me back…well…actually I think you do." He winked at me and then his eyes moved between me, Dimitri and our hands. Then we started making plans how to get inside the hotel.

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><p>P.S. Hope to have portraied the feelings right. Cnstructive criticism is appreciated.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, people! Sorry for the lateness. The chapter was hard to write. These feelings came out really hard. I should warn you, people, that I am a hopeless romantic and this story will be full of lovey dovey stuff.

Disclaimer:...

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><p>Chapter Five<p>

The plan was Mikhail and I would go in and tell the guards that we have a few more questions for the alchemists. If all went according to plan we would be in and out in and hour. I put my locket and Mikhail said that he wouldn't recognize me if he didn't know. Then I turned to Adrian, he just shook his head he could see trough the Spirit induced in the locket. And there it was again, Dimitri's voice in my head _Yes, Roza, you look like a goddess now but I prefer your natural look. _I just shook my head, I think I'm going crazy. First Lissa, now Dimitri too. Dimitri pulled me aside and kissed my forehead lightly.

"Be careful, please." He murmured. I just nod my head, overwhelmed by the emotion in his eyes, aura and voice. And then Mikhail and I went in the hotel. We got to their floor and went to the rooms where they held the alchemists *cough* 'the prisoners' *cough*, I mean really it's not like they will run away. The guardians stationed in front of their rooms were just two so I let Mikhail talk to them. They let us in fairly easy – first we went to Sydney's room. She was shocked to see guardians in her room.

"What do you want, I thought we told you all we know. I don't know where Hathaway is, I lost her a while back" she was pissed.

"I didn't know you cared so much, Syd." I said with a wink in her direction. She just stared back at me.

"Rose? Is that really you? You're unbelievable. Have you come to bust me out because if you have - please don't, your dad won't like it." She pleaded. I shook my head.

"Unfortunately no, Syd, I'm not. I have a few questions for your friend and I needed you with me."

"Why would you need me and what more could he tell you?" she was confused.

"Well…he has information that he hid from the other guardians and as to why I need you – he likes you, a lot, and I'm hoping he'll open up more if you're there." She didn't look like she believed me much but came with us nonetheless. We went next room, where Ian was staying. The other alchemist, Stanton, has her own room. When we entered the door Ian first decided that Sydney was in trouble but she diffused his fears.

"Ian, these guardians say that you have information that you didn't say to the others. I need you to tell them, please." She asked him. His face melted immediately and a little smile graced his face. Poor guy didn't know what hit him. Then he turned to us and that was my queue.

"You said, to the other guardians that you remembered who came looking for information. Would you describe them to me?"

And did he describe them, but I was really shocked at what I heard. I couldn't believe it. The person he described was the last I would've thought about. We got back to the cars, everyone was on edge – Sonya and Dimitri were waiting for us and weren't talking with anyone , Dimitri also had a pensive look on his face, like he was thinking really hard about something. I hoped it was about what I told him. Adrian and Jill were standing on the side talking quietly. When they saw us, they momentarily and came to us. We told them what we heard and they were just as shocked. I started thinking for reasons why would that person kill the queen – and I came up with nothing. The other question running through my head was why would they frame me. I was coming to a dead end there too. While we were still thinking about that we went to the cars to start driving. We decided that we'll stay in a till the morning and then we'll go to Court, just in time for the speeches. We left Sonya to drive back with Mikhail to let them catch up and Adrian came with us. The whole ride to the hotel I was looking at my Russian god and I could see him sneaking glances at me. It was sometime later that Adrian got fed up.

"Would you stop it already, you're blinding me back here. And I want to be able to have a conversation with Jailbait." I could see Jill blushing next to him.

A few hours later we were in my and Dimitri's room at the hotel. We took three rooms – one for me and Dimitri, one for Sonya and Mikhail and one for Adrian and Jill. We were planning what to do the next day. What we'll do is we'll get in, Adrian will charm something to hide Dimitri's look and Sonya will strengthen mine, then we'll wait in 'the shadows' till the speeches end and then we'll get in and tell the truth to the whole Moroi and Dhampir world. Then everyone else left our room. I decided to take a shower and again forgot to take clothes with me. I got out with just a towel and went to take my clothes. In the room Dimitri was sitting on the bed clad only in sleep pants, looking thoughtful. When I opened the door his head shot up his eyes locked on me. The first thing I saw was how his aura filled with a deep blood red, probably associated with lust, I made a mental note to ask Adrian about aura colors. He tried to move his gaze but it was futile, just like for me – I couldn't part my eyes from his amazingly sculpted chest. Then I saw another change in his aura – the deep blood red changed into a blinding gold. And that was all I needed I moved to him so fast I could've been strigoi. I was sitting in his lap looking deep in his eyes and somehow knew he has forgiven himself. But I felt it was too good to be true so I had to ask.

"Comrade, have you really forgiven yourself; I'm getting this vibe, I'm seeing this in your aura, but I need to hear it." I was hoping against hope.

"Yes, Roza, I thought a lot and even imagined what I would feel if you are not next to me, like I want you to be. What I felt was excruciating pain and misery. That was half of what made my decision. The other half was before you and Mikhail went in the hotel – when you were greeting Adrian. I was blinded by colors, they were not much, just three or four. What blinded me most was the gold, which I know from Lissa is the color of true and unconditional love. She had told me that is the color she sees around Christian, and also what she kept seeing around you while you were trying to talk to me. Along with a deep dark, almost black, blue, which she associated with pain, depression and sorrow." Even our auras are alike, that just solidified my thoughts that we were meant to be. "And then I remembered something my grandmother told me _'You will hurt her, more than once and in more way that you can imagine, you'll part ways, your paths will divide, but your soul mate will always come back to you.'_ And while you were gone, talking with the alchemist, I thought back to all we've been through – we found love, we fought it, we embraced it, we got separated, you came to find me, I kept hurting you, for selfish reasons, we parted ways again, I came back to find you, with bad intentions mind you, but yet again you saved me and my soul, then I pushed you away, but again you proved how stubborn and strong you are. Our lives have been ups and downs since we met, but I wouldn't have it any other way." I was starting to get teary eyed from his confession. "Rose…Roza, I told you once to look for the beauty in the small things, since I came back I've been seeing one beautiful thing around me – you, in spite of my vow to the Princess, I always thought of you. Every time we talked it was always about you, my feelings for you, she told me through what you went through after I was taken. There were so many times that I wanted to come to you and tell you that it was going to be alright. I was just scared that after everything I have done you won't want me and that if, by some miracle, you do, I would ruin your reputation as guardian. I didn't want to be the cause of that so I pushed you away. I see now that I was wrong." I just shook my head, my selfless Russian god. I kissed him lightly, knowing he had more to say. "Now when I look back, I see how contradicting I have been – first I push you away, then try to save you from the royal guards... But that part of our lives is over. I want to be with you, I know you're my soul mate, you've met my grandmother, you know how she is, but I never doubt her visions and predictions. I let go of the guilt, I realized that that wasn't' really me back then, like you said, it was some kind of a monster, a leech, which was feeding off me and was making me do unacceptable things. But that leech is gone, you killed it completely when you said that you love me and that you were meant for me, that night we killed the last part of the monster, I just needed a little time to realize it and come to terms with it. I hope you can forgive my…"I didn't let him finish, I just kissed him with everything I had and gave as good as he got.

It was a while later, while we were basking in the afterglow that we started talking. My head was lying in his chest, listening to his erratic heartbeat, which was matching mine.

"Roza, you said that you saw my aura. I'm curious what did you see?" he asked, while stroking my arm.

"Well…I first saw it while I was greeting Adrian, he made a comment how you were looking like you want to kill him. So I turned to look at you and was blinded by the gold. I didn't know what I was seeing, I turned around to look at the others but I didn't see anything from them, then I focused on you and saw almost the same colors you saw in mine, but with you there was red and a little green around the edges." I winked at him. "It was weird, and then Adrian made a comment, again, about the colors and asked him to elaborate. He said he understood all but the blue, which was the same as you described before. But with you it was pain, depression and regret…"he just nodded. For a while we stayed in our comfortable silence, hen I broke it. "Comrade, I have to tell you something, no it's not bad, don't worry," I hastily said, because I felt him gulp. "When we were in the car, driving to the meeting, when I tried the locket and I turned around in the car, I 'heard' what you thought about it, but you didn't say a word. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then before Mikhail and I went I in the hotel, I heard it again. I…didn't know what to think and I didn't have the time. But now I do and I want your opinion. Also while I was in Liss's head, she wished I was there with her and I thought to her, though I knew she couldn't hear me, that we'll be there soon. But I think she heard me and I don't know how." I told him everything.

"Well… I don't know what to tell you. In the car, while you were with Lissa I heard you say something like _'Not long now, Liss, I'm coming'_ I turned to ask you what you meant but you were still there and then I couldn't talk to you. I don't know… and there were a few times that I got snippets of your thoughts but most of them were after I had made my decision about us." Then we both got quiet, thinking this over. Then something he said registered – he said he could 'hear' me after he made his decision, and he could see my aura when we were at the parking lot, and then I remembered what he said that Yeva had told him about us being soul mates.

"Comrade, you know I think that these 'features' we have developed are due to two things – us being soul mates and us being touched by Spirit." He looked a little uncertain. "On one hand, you said that you started 'seeing' and 'hearing' after you had made your decision about us. On the other, we both being touched by Spirit – well I am shadow-kissed, and you were brought back by it." He started nodding, seeing my point of view.

"You may be right, Roza. We'll have to talk with someone who has more knowledge and maybe do a little research." I looked exasperatedly at him, when he said 'research'. I still didn't like being swamped in books. He just laughed, shook his head and kissed me on the head. "For now though, lets just rest, we have a long day ahead of us." He kissed me 'goodnight', I snuggled closer to him and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

On the next day we met everyone in the lobby. Everyone was all smiles. It was good to see that. We moved to the cars and went on to Court. Dimitri and I put our charmed jewelry and then it was easy to get in. Mikhail, then, showed us some shadows behind the big banquet hall, where we would stay and wait till the banquet starts. And from there we could see and hear everything that is happening in the hall, that way it would be easier for us to hear when is our queue.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, guys! Excuse me for the late update but I got caught up in a few FanFictions and the chapter was a little hard to write. Just to let you know from now on I will upate slowly because I start university and I won't have much time.

Disclaimer:...You know thye drill.

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><p>Chapter Six<p>

It was a few hours later that the hall started filling in. First came the watchers, it was interesting how everyone was trying to look their best like they would be the ones talking. Then, when the hall was full to the brim, came the Council, they were looking regal as ever, with their head held high. Last, but not least, came the last three nominees for the throne – Lissa, the candidate from the Tarus family and the candidate from the Conta's. When everyone was seated Adrian's father stood to address the people.

"Welcome, welcome! We are gathered here to witness the final test for the throne. Tha last candidates are three - Andrea Conta, Michael Tarus and Vasilisa Dragomir. Now we'll hear their speeches. The first to talk will be lady Conta, after that lord Tarus and last but not least, princess Dragomir." Nathan Ivashkov sat down and let the Conta candiate talk. She talked timidly, didn't say much and the one thing worth mentioning was that the Moroi needed to be kept safe but she didn't elaborate how. She stood with crossed hands and for the untrained eye she would look ok, but to the trained eye she was a nervous wreck - her voice and hands shook, and there was a thin sheet of sweat on her face.

Next in line stood to talk the Tarus nominee. He talked with arrogance, held himself like he owned the building and the people. He talked mostly about how the Dhampirs should be grateful to the Moroi that they gave them work and a roof over their heads, otherwise every Dhampir would end up on the streets. Needless to say not many people were charmed with his speech. He also said that the age law was something that shoul have been passed long ago. That was all I heard of the other two speeches, I didn't make myself listen hard, I was waiting for Lissa's speech. And there was her turn.

She stood up, looking regal as ever in her floor-lenght dress, the color of which made her jade-green eyes come out and made them even more hypnotic.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I stand before you now as a candidate for the throne, even though the law won't let me compete. My two opponents had good points in their speeches, I congatrulate them." here lady Conta smiled politely, while lord Tarus pursed his lips. "I, on the other hand, will talk of things, that most of you haven't considered. I will talk of the benefits of the Moroi learning how to fight and use offensive magic." at the last words most of the hall took a deep breath and listened closely. Some tried to stop her from talking more but were made to shut up really fast. "You all know my history - my family died a few years ago, only I and my best friend lived." I started to shake, tears treathaning to fall. Dimitri pulled me to his side, knowing this will be hard for me. I'm sorry, Rose, I have to say it. Lissa said to me, thinking I at least will be listening. No worries, Liss, I can handle it. I thought back. She stopped for a moment and then decided to think about hearing my voice later. "Since that moment it has always been me and her against the world - be it high school, evil relatives or Strigoi. And that made us stronger, now she is not my best friend anymore, she is my sister. But there comes a time that one starts to re-evaluate what they have in their life. That moment for me was...well it came in parts. First it was when my best friend was being the target of rumours at school. Then when St Vladimir was attacked, my sister was one of the first to fight alongside my boyfriend and I was freaking out, being held in a secret compound - that is when I realised that my sister will be doing that for the rest of her life and I would be hiding somewhere, praying she would be alright. What made my resolve even stronger and convinced me that I had to change something in my way of life, if I wanted to have my best friend/sister with me always, was when she left to fulfill a promise she had given to a very dear friend of hers." more tears came to my eyes, kowing that that was the way Lissa thought. Dimitri held me even stronger now, giving me his silent support and drawing strenght at the same time. This was the time when I left her to save him and he still felt guilty over it."I was left without my sister and at first I was so angry with her, that she chose him over me, and I let myself be fooled by another Spirit user, Avery Lazar. As time passed I was sinking lower and lower in my despair and there was a time when I resented my best friend for leaving me. But even then, she hadn't really left me, she had been with me all the time. And when I needed her most she was there in my mind and heart, even if her body was all around the other side of the world. That experience showed me that if I ever loose her I would be hopeless. And that is the reason that I think that Moroi should learn how to fight - because there will be times where our guardians won't be there and we'll be helpless like little children!" the last word was left to hang in the air for a while and then the hall erupted. Everyone was applauding. I was really proud of my best friend/sister. It was a couple moments before Nathan Ivashkov could return the peace.

"Thank you, princess Dragomir, that was inspiring." he said that with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. I really wanted to hit him right now. "But, as you said it yourself, the law won't let you compete. So thank you for the participation. Now you can sit back and watch." he dismissed her like a little child. That was our queue to make an entrance. We walked in and made our way to the stage. I pushed Adrian's father, a little harder than needed, from the stage and took over the microphone, Dimitri stood behind me for moral support and to fend off the guards, trying to take me down from the stage.

"Good evening, everyone, you may be asking yourselves who am I but that is not important now. I have news for you that will shatter our world - Vasilisa Dragomir is not the last of her line. Her father had an illegitimate child and I bring her before you." Sorry you had to learn like that,Liss. I looked at her - she was shocked. When I looked in her head it was about two things - me, under a Spirit guise and the news about Jill. She had so many questions but knew now was not the time."Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Jill Mastrano-Dragomir, the last of the Dragomir line. With that being said Vasilisa Dragomir is allowed to compete for the crown and throne of the Moroi world." There was an uproar from almost all of the royals with a few exceptions.

"What is the meaning of this? How should we believe that what you say is true? Is there a DNA test made or witnesses?" Nathan Ivashkov was spluttering like crazy, I could see Adrian trying hard not to laugh.

"That is true. I can attest to that" said Daniela Ivashkov. Everyone turned to look at her, most of them with thw expression 'are you crazy'. "I will not give details. It is not the time nor place for that kind of information. What I want to know is who are you two, how did you get that information and what are you doing here?" she was looking at me and Dimitri. I turned slightly to him and talked to him mentally, hoping it will work.

'Comrade, we take the glamours on three and tell them the whole truth about the killer. We won't be resisting arrest, if we want to be freed. I love you!' he smiled slightly and nodded to show he had heard me.

'I love you too, my Roza!'

"Well, lady Ivashkov, we are people you know, but before we reveal ourselves I want to make a deal with the guardians - when we show who we are you'll give us 15 to 20 minutes to tell you what we have to tell you, then you can take us back to the cells. I'll give you a heads up and tell you that we know who killed the queen." everyone was shocked, Lissa screamed in my head No, Rose, you can't do that. I just ignored her for now. Then a few gurdians came to us, being led by Hans. He just nodded to me to continue. I counted to three in my head and Dimitri and I took off the glamours. The silence was deafaning and then all hell broke loose - almost every guardian was trying to get to us, but Hans and the others few around us stopped them. I turned to Dimitri and took his hand in my, taking and giving support at the same time. "Yes, we are Rose Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov, don't freak outso much." I coldn't resist, Dimitri squeezed my hand in a way to tell me to move on. "So, you all think you know who killed the queen, but you don't. I'll tell you the real story of the queens murder. The name of the killer, as much as it pains me to say it, is Tasha Ozera. Now the why is more interesting..." I couldn't continue because Christian and Tasha jumped to say something but Adrian shsushed them with a look. "As I was saying, the 'why' of the crme is the more interesting part - it is equal parts jelousy and power-thurst. Power-thurst because if Lissa was chosen queen, then Tasha would have another ally in her fight for 'Moroi using offence'. We all knew that publicly Tatiana was against that, but secretly she was training a few royals, trying to prove to them that it was necessary, as princess Dragomir said in her speech. The queen thought the same, but wanted first to see how a small group would accept the idea... There's one thing that I can't understand - why would that guy, James, attack the princess, what was his purpose?" that was the one thing we hadn't really figured out while discussing this before. I looked around and then outside, if you listened closely you could hear the crowd screaming Lissa's name and other praises connected with her line. And then it clicked. "I figured it out - you wanted her to have more people supporting her. You knew she would make a great queen, that is why you were against the law that held her from participating in the elections."

"Rose, how can you say that. Aunt Tasha has always said that you were innocent, that you could never kill Tatiana and you are repaying her like this!" Christian was outraged, Lissa didn't know what to think. I turned to look at Dimitri, to see how he was coping with all of this. I knew he still thought of Tasha as his friend and I didn't want him to hurt, but the truth had to come out.

"Chris, I wished all I said was a lie, I wish I could take it back, but I can't. You can ask the guadian who should have been on duty that night, and if you don't know who it was, I'll tell you - it was Ethan Moore." everyone turned to look at him and he tried to make himself invisible by staying flat on the wall, probably hoping it will swallow him.

"I get that motive, partly, but what about the jeousy you talked about?" Hans asked. I looked at Dimitri, yet again, and hear him in my head

'Tell them, Roza, I'm sick of hiding you and us. It's time the world understood that you're mine.' I shivered slightly when he said 'mine' and smiled back at him.

'I love you, Comrade.'

"Well, Hans, the jelousy was more about why I was believed to be the murderer. You see Tasha and I love the same man - Dimitri Belikov." everyone was quiet after that statement, an almost everyone had a look of shock on their faces. "And last Christmas, I guess, Dimitri broke Tasha's heart by refusing her generous offer, because of me. By framing me for her crime Tasha thought she could kill two birds with one stone. That way Moroi would fight, hopefully she would be teaching them and the man of her dreams would be next to her, without some 'stupid teenager' to mess with her plans." I said triumphantly.

'You'll never be stupid, my Roza.' I heard from Dimitri.

'I'm sorry, Comrade, I know you thought of her as a friend.' He squeezed my hand in answer. I looked at Tasha - she was looking at our intertwined fingers. I slipped in Lissa's head and saw her aura, it was filled with the red and green associated with anger and jelousy, also you could see brown-green, which I associated with fear, and the muddy color, representing for me defeat. But then something changed in her aura - it all turned a sickly red color, that Lissa associated with deranged anger, almost reminding her of a rabid animal. Tasha turned an grabbed the first person she could, which unfortunately was Christian. He didn't know what to do - he didn't want to hurt his aunt but he didn't want her to do something awful. I looked at him and willed him to look me back, when he did I could see he was measuring his chances. I shook my head slightly at him to tell him not to do anything stupid, he nodded slightly.

'Comrade, any ideas?' I asked him silently.

'I'm thinking them over.' Then Tasha opened her mouth.

"Well, now that I'm out, there is no point in hiding it - yes, I killed Tatiana and would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for that meddling blood-whore-to-be. I don't know what you see in her, Dimka. You know that I can give you something she can't but still you stay with her. I have to give it to you, Rose, you do know how to make an entrance - bringing that other Dragomir was amazing. Now it will be even easier for Lissa to become queen and to put through the laws I want her to." she cackled maniacally. Dimitri wanted to say something to the 'term' she used for me, but kept quiet.

"You wish, Tasha, I wouldn't even listen to you. I would drop out of the competition this instant if I have to put my half-sister to that stress." Lissa said, her tone like steel. I could see Jill smile slightly.

"Oh, Lissa, I don't think you have a choice - it's either that, or my nephew will suffer." she said that without a hint of remorse. Christian

looked like he would be sick.

"Lissa, don't listen to her. Let me be, Jill is more important that me, she is your family..." he tried to say more but Tasha put herhand on his mouth.

"Christian, shut up!" I said. "You are family too. To me at least." the last sentence was just above a whisper, hoping no one heard it. Dimitri squeezed my hand and I knew he, at least, heard me. A look at Christian told me he heard me too, because his eyes were saying the same thing to me. I thought back to all that Christian and I have been through and what made us so close - and I got an idea. I told him with my eyes to play along. "Hey, Fireboy, remember Spokane, how your compulsion was so weak..." and I winked him, he 'nodded' with his eyes, while everyone else was wondering what we were up to.

"Alright, enough chit-chat." Tasha said, she had somehow gotten hold of a gun and it was now pointing at me. I looked at Christian and then back at the gun a few times, hoping that this time he would catch up faster. He did. "Now I want a clean path to the exit and no one following me...Ahh, what the..." she dropped the gun and at the same time she lost her grip on her nephew, he turned aroun and his fist made contact with her face. She was on the ground in seconds.

"Arrest her and be careful, the same goes for Moore." Hans was giving orders. Then he turned to us. "You two are free." in the second the words left his mouth I was already running to Lissa and Christian. The moment I got to them I enveloped them both in a giant hug. Then Lissa let us go and went to greet Dimitri, while I had a quick conversation with Christian.

"That was amazing, I was hoping you would catch up faster this time." I winked at him and hugged him closer. "I really meant what I said about family - you, along with Eddie and Adrian, are my brothers, and I would do anything for you." I said emotionally. He hugged me tighter.

"Me too, Rose, you are my sister, and probably the best family I will ever have, apart from Liss." I was touched by his words.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey! Sorry for the long wait but I needed time to get the chapter right. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer:...

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><p>Chapter Seven<p>

Seeing as there were too many questions and things to be done, the elections would be held in a few days time. That way the council will have time to decide what to do on both accounts - Lissa's sister and Tasha's murder trial. That, however, didn't concern me much. Right now I was snuggled in the embrace of my Russian god, feeling at home. We were given an apartment in the guardians building, every time we went out we were stared at - I was starting to understand how animals in the zoo felt. The good thing was that Dimitri and I stayed mostly at home, the only times we went out was to go to Lissa and Christian's. Today, however, I had a meeting with Lissa, we had made plans to see each other like in the old times - just the two of us. I wanted to ask her if she really heard me those few times.

It was hard for me to leave my lover's arms, I felt so warm there, but I had to. So with a lot of effort I got up and looked at his sprawled body. He looked heavenly.

"So, Comrade, what are your plans for today? Seeing as I won't be here most of that time."

"Well, Roza, I was thinking of going to talk to Hans to reassign me, to Christian, maybe, and then I was thinking of taking him and going to talk with Tasha..." he said, his voice cracking when he said her name.

"Please be careful with her, I fear she will use compulsion and try to turn you on me... About Christian - I wouldn't want anyone else guarding him apart from you, well...maybe Eddie, but I heard Adrian wanted him." I said with a smile, happy that my brother will have one of the best guardians. "And I'm happy you're taking him with you to visit her. I know he needs to talk to her too." then I pulled him with me to the bathroom. It took us a little over 30 minutes to get out of the shower, feeling refreshed and energized. I put comfortable clothes - sweat pants and a T-shirt, took my sweatshirt, kissed Dimitri goodbye and went to Lissa's.

I knocked on her door and a few moments Christian opened, fully clothed and ready to go out.

"Hey, Fireboy, I heard you had plans today. Please be careful and take care of my man." I told him, while hugging him hello.

"Don't worry, I know how to take care of myself and your man doesn't need me to take care of him, you should know that better than anyone else." he said back to me, with a smile. "Lissa is in the shower, you can wait in the living room, I left you breakfast on the kitchen counter." he told me before closing the door.

"Thanks, you know me so well." I said, not raising my voice, knowing he could here me even through the door. I went to the kitchen to find my breakfast - it was a simple toast and scrambled eggs but damn it was delicious. That's when Lissa came out of the shower, dressed almost like me - she just had a long-sleeved shirt instead of a tee. We went to her bedroom and sat on the bed.

"Rose, I have something to tell you, before we get to the heavy stuff." she was bouncing in her seat, and was hiding her thoughts.

"Okay, Liss, spill. You're killing me here." I smiled at her.

"Well...Christian and I were talking and we decided that we wanted a house of our own, and we wanted our sanctioned guardians with us - meaning we want you and Dimitri to move in with us." I think I took the role of a fish - opening and closing my mouth with no sound coming from it. I tuned in briefly to Dimitri, and found him walking with Christian to the cell's block. Christian had just told him about their idea, and he too didn't know what to say.

'Comrade, what do you say?' I asked him in our way.

'Well, Roza, that would be easier on both us and them, and we'll be closer to them, and...Yeah, I like the idea. Now go back to Lissa before she has called to to ask why you are staring off into space.' he told me with a chuckle. I got back to Lissa's and found her staring at me anxiously.

"Sorry, I was talking with Dimitri. Liss, that's an amazing idea." I tackled her to the bed, hugging her. "By the way, that is how I look to other people, while talking with you." I said, without a thought. She looked at me like I had lost it.

"You...were...talking with Dimitri? How...? What...? Rose, what is going on with you - first I hear you in my head, like you were answering my thoughts; then at some times I found myself staring at Dimitri, and I knew you two were together at these times; now you tell me you can talk to him in your head!? I don't know what is happening, Rose, and apparently I can't figure it out on my own, so please help me!" Lissa was breathing heavily from her outburst.

"Okay, Liss, just calm down. That was the 'heavy stuff' I wanted to talk about. Well...our theory, mine and Dimitri's, is that after he was turned back our, mine and yours, bond grew." I started, not sure how to continue. "I don't know how to tell you, so I'm going to relate from the beginning. The first time I noticed it was when you were going to your second exam - you wished for me to be there and I told you that I soon will be there; and then at the end of the exam. Remember?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I was so shocked, but I told myself it was wishful thinking."

"I know, but it wasn't - I really thought that line and you heard me. After that I was trying the charm that Sonya made me, and asked in the car how I looked - Sonya, obviously, couldn't see the change; Jill was amazed beyond words; and Dimitri - he had his mask on,but then I heard him like I hear you, and then I thought I had imagined it. Then we met with Mikhail and Adrian. That's when I saw something, that I shouldn't have been able to - I saw Dimitri's aura. At first I didn't know what it was, but then Adrian started talking about it and what colors it had and I realized that I had seen just that. I looked around to experiment if I could see any other auras, but I couldn't. Then my eyes locked with Dimitri's and somehow I knew he could see the same and only on me. I heard him again in my head and thought I was going crazy. After we finished with our mission, we checked in a hotel for the night. That was the night Dimitri forgave himself completely. After a while, " I winked at her and she blushed, knowing what we had been doing in that 'a while' "we talked about what we had 'seen' and 'heard' and we concluded that it has two reasons - us being soul mates, and both of us being touched by Spirit..." I couldn't continue because Lissa squealed and tackled me on the bed.

"Rose, soul mates, that's huge, I'm so happy for you!" she had a 100W smile, which I knew mirrored mine.

"Yeah, it's amazing. And that revalation made me think that maybe our bond has increased since you stacked him, but we hadn't felt it because we were both stressed and had a lot on our minds. And now that we are more relaxed we can feel it and even 'train' it..." I trailed, no being able to finish, because I got sucked in my lover's head:

'Natasha, one thing I don't get - I've told you so many times that I don't have romantic feelings for you; when you came that Christmas, you immediately knew about my feelings for Roza, and even encouraged me to act on them. And then you go and frame the love of my life just so that you can have me for yourself. Why?' he was heartbroken.

'Roza, I'm sorry I pulled you in here, but I needed to feel you and to get a bit of strength from you'

'Comrade, don't apologize, I'll always be there for you when you need me. Now get back in there and talk to her, I'll be here and listen'

'Dimka,' Tasha sighed exasperatedly.'you can't know she is the love of your life, come on she is, what, only 18, in a few years she will decide that you are not enough for her and she will leave you for someone younger.' she said with so much venom in her voice. Dimitri got really angry, so I tried to calm him with thoughts of us in a few years - we will be living in a house, with Lissa and Christian, we'll be happy. That helped and he returned to his conversation, but before he could utter a word a new voice came, even angrier.

'Tasha, you know nothing about Rose and Dimitri's relationship.' Christian said. 'You don't know through what they've been, what they faced. Let me ask you something - would you have done any of the things Rose did for Dimitri, would you have travelled all the way around the world to tell his family, to save him? No, I know you. So stop playing games and ruining people's lives, you have done enough of that already.' Chris was really pissed, Dimitri was regarding him with awe. Then both of us got a thought at the same time - his family. No one had told them that he was turned, so no one has told them now that he was turned back.

'Comrade, finish there and we'll make plans to go to Russia' I told him.

'Thank you, Roza, you are amazing' he said with so much feeling in his voice.

'Dimka, are you really going to let him talk to me like that,' Tasha looked at Dimitri and her eyes glazed and focused. 'You will forget about Rose, about your life at Court and St Vladimir, all you will remember is that you have been my guardian all your life and now we will be getting married.' she tried to compel him, but she couldn't. He was furious, I guess having found your soul mate, also helps you to resist compulsion. That thought calmed him immediately, thinking about me put a smile on his face and Tasha thought she had won.

'Of course, Tasha,...' Christian looked at him like he was crazy, but then noticed the gleam in his eyes and stayed silent.'Well, there is only one problem with that statement - I never wanted to be your guardian in the first place. All that you said was in vain, because once you have found your soul mate, you are immuned to compulsion.' she screamed in anger and agony, trying to flame him, but he was a good few feet away from her and she missed. Then he and Christian went out.

'Damn, man, that was amazing! But what was that about the soul mate. there hasn't been any in a century.' Chris said, respect and amazement coloring his voice.

'And as far as the world will know, there still won't be.' Dimitri answered with a sly smile.

'You're good, Comrade, now I leave you to tell Christian. You can tell him what you want, I already told Lissa almost all.'

'OK, Roza, bye, see you later. Love you!' he said before I left his head.

When I resurfaced to Lissa, she was staring anxiously at me.

"Sorry, I had to stay with Dimitri for a while. It wasn't an easy conversation..." I said and recounted to her what happened in the cell's block. "...Yeah, and now they are talking." I looked at her, she had a calculating look on her face.

'Rose, can you say something back to me?' she asked in my/her head.

'Liss, can you hear me now?' I asked and she gasped - she had heard me. The next moment I was 'attacked' by whirlwind or blond and was tackled to the bed.

"Rose, that is amazing! Now we can talk all the time and be there, even when we're not" she was so excited. I think no was the time to talk about some vacation time for me and Dimitri.

"Liss, I have a request - Dimitri and I need two weeks vacation to go visit his family." I gave her the puppy dog eyes, to which she never said 'no'.

"Rose, you don't have to ask, you two need that time to relax and get back on track." it was easier than I thought. Then someone cleared their throat from the door - there stood Christian and Dimitri, smiling and looking fondly at us. Then they came to us and each got his girl in a hug.

'Roza, have I told you lately how amazing you are! Or how happy you make me!' I heard in my head. I just shook my head and leaned into him. Then I spotted Christian and Lissa looking at us, with looks saying 'what the...' and 'I know what you're doing', which was a weird combination. Then I got up and went to Christian.

"Fireboy, thank you, for what you said back there." I hugged him tighly. "Are you OK?" I asked him, whispering in his ear. All he did was nod slightly. Then I returned to my lover and turned to Lissa and Christian.

"Well, guys, we'll leave you so that you can talk, amongst other things." I winkled at them. "We, on the other hand, have a trip to plan." I told them. We moved to the door, waved and went to our room.

The moment we locked our door, Dimitri had me pinned to it, kissing me passionately. We came up for breath after a few minutes. He pulled me to the couch and went to get the laptop, so that we can book our tickets. We both thought 'The sooner, the better.' Of course he was nervous but I reassured him that everything will be alright. After that we went and finished what we started at the door.

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><p>I hope it is understood, what I tried to say, because I have a little trouble formattong some parts of the text - it had to be italized or underlined and it was in the document, but here it is just plain text. Please tell me if it's not understandeable and I'll fix it somehow. Thank you! <p>


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, people! Sorry for the wait! My muse is coming and going whenever she likes ;) And I had little trouble with the uploading, but everything is fine now! Enjoy!

Disclaimer:...

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><p>Chapter Eight<p>

The flight to Russia was long and tiring, so I just slept through it. That way I kept the spirits away, too. The best thing of that flight was the way I was woken up when we landed - with a kiss and love-filled brown eyes. When we got off the plane and took our luggage, Dimitri hailed a taxi and told the driver to drive to the train station. While in the car I took the time to check on Lissa. She was lounging around with Christian.

"I miss her already, Chris, and she will be gone for two whole weeks" Lissa said, sounding miserable. Then, before Christian could answer, there was a knock at the door and he went to open.

_'Rose, I know you're there, I miss you.'_

_'I know, Liss, but I will be home soon. Meanwhile you can...' _I couldn't finish because Christian came back with some official looking Guard.

"Princess Dragomir, you are hereby officially invited, by the Council, to come and give blood, in order to resolve the issue with ms Jill Mastrano." _'Meanwhile you can do __that__' _I finished my sentence and left her to her day, seeing as the time difference was almost 12 hours.

When I came back to myself, the taxi driver was just pulling in front of the train station. The last time I had to go to Baia I went by car, Abe's to be exact, so this was going to be a new experience for me. While in my thoughts, Dimitri had paid the driver and went to take our luggage from the trunk. I noticed that the driver told him something in Russian and I told myself I would ask later. We went in and stood in front of the ticket booth. The boy behind stared a bit more than necessary at me. I saw Dimitri scrunch his nose and bark something at the boy, after that we got our tickets. Then Dimitri pulled me after him to the luggage wing, where we left our bags for a few hours.

"Seeing as we have a couple hours to spare I will show you around a little." Dimitri said, _'I've been dreaming of this moment since the day you made that joke about Siberia and Montana, last year' _he continued in his head. I smiled at him and answered the same way

_'That were my exact thoughts the last time I was here - I wanted you to show me around.' _He just smiled sadly at me. From then we went on a tour and when we came back to the station we were utterly exhausted, all we wanted to do was lie and sleep.

It was impossible for me to sleep on the train - it moved too much. So I turned to Dimitri - he was gnawing at his fingernails.

"Comrade, relax. They'll be excited to see you. You don't know how devastated they were when I told them, it broke my heart and I hadn't known them for long then. Then, when they gathered friends and neighbours it was even worse, for me - they made me talk about your last moments. I told them how brave and fearless you were. An because they saw how horrible I felt, they tried to kill me with vodka - let me tell you that thing is hideously gross." that made him laugh, which was my goal. " I had an awful headache the next day and your grandmother made me walk all the way to Oksana, carrying a bag full of bricks. With Paul as a translator." I paused, thinking back to that time and how I wanted to stay with them and forget about everything else. I felt him in my head and showed him the days I spent with the Belikovs. But I stopped at the last night, I didn't want him to see that. Remembering it dampened my mood a little. I was scared of what would happened when they see me.

"Roza, what is it?" he asked, suspicion and worry coloring his tone.

"Well...The last night, before I went to Novosibirsk, I had a fight with Victoria. I have to ask you, before I tell you, to not tell her that I told you, if you want to know what happened ask her as if you don't know anything. OK?" I asked him. He nodded, his aura changing colors. I should have asked Adrian about aura colors. "So this one night Victoria decided to take me out, she had a date with her boyfriend, a Moroi named Rolan. He was a real scumbag, the moment she had her back to him he started flirting with me." Dimitri growled and it was a good thing that we were alone in the cart. "Anyway, we were outside a club and before I went in, Abe stopped me and told me what Rolan was really after with your sister." He clenched his fist here, no doubt thinking of revenge. "I had to do something so I promised Abe that I'll leave if he got rid of Rolan. I guess he was really convincing because Victoria came out furious and started yelling at me. She told me that I didn't know what love was and that I probably never loved you..." here he cut me off with a kiss. _She was wrong, you know that. If you didn't love me, you wouldn't have done what you did for me. _he told me, while wiping tears off my face, tears I didn't know had escaped."That is when I went with the unpromised. After Yeva told me that it was the right thing to do... I just wish that I had told them 'goodbye'." I sniffled.

"Oh, love, don't worry too much. They will, probably, be worried more than hurt or angry." I nodded, not really into it, while my heart fluttered when he called me 'love'. I needed a distraction, then I remembered the taxi driver.

"Hey, Comrade, what did the guy in the taxi tod you when we were getting out?" he chuckled at me and shook his head.

"He told me that I was lucky with a girl like you." I smiled and kissed him.

After a long train ride we were, at last, at Baia. There we rented a car and drove to the Belikov house. With every meter, with which we were coming closer, Dimitri was getting fussier and fussier. At last we were there. We got out of the car and went to the porch.

"Comrade, I'll knock and talk to them first." _You stay on this side of the door, so that they don't see you before I have told them. _He just nodded. I knocked on the door. It swung open a moment later and I was enveloped in the arms of none other than Olena Belikova.

"Oh, Roza, we were so worried when you disappeared that night. But then Yeva said that you would be alright. However I was worried, you became like a daughter to me and I felt closer to my Dimka through you." _Told you. _Dimitri smirked, though there was a sad undertone in his voice.

"Olena, I'm so sorry about that, I just had to do what I came for. But I did and I'm back for a while. And I come bearing news..." she flinched a little. Probably because last time I came with bad news. "Don't worry, they're not bad this time. Would you believe me if I tell you that I found a way to bring Dimitri back?" I asked, deciding to start not at the beginning. She was shocked, her eyes getting as big as pancakes.

"I know how much you loved him. And I believe that you would have tried, but for you to have done it..." she trailed. I turned to Dimitri and made a move with my head, to tell him to come forward. He inhaled deeply and moved next to me.

"Mama..." he couldn't continue because he was being suffocated by Olena, who was hugging him like there was no tomorrow. _Told you. _It was my time to smirk. While standing on the side, wiping my tears I was pulled in between mother and son.

"Oh, Roza, you don't know how happy you have made me. You brought me back one of the most precious things to me - my only son!" Olena was crying.

"No need to thank me, Olena. I did it as much for you, as for me. Now why don't we get inside and see the others." I suggested.

"Well, at this time of the day it is only mother, me and the kids, who are sleeping; the girls are at work or school. Victoria is coming home for a week, some vacation or something like that." she said, while leading us in.

"Sonya had her baby? What is it? And how are Paul and Zoya?" I asked. Dimitri stiffened a little at the mention that Sonya was pregnant. I could feel his regret that he missed so much from his sisters's lives. _Hey, it is not your fault. Stop this._ I told him.

"Well, it's another girl, her name is Anya, and she is amazing. Paul and Zoya are good, he misses you. He won't stop talking about you." she smiled. I could tell she was proud of her daughters and their children. We just got to the living room when Yeva was coming down the stairs, she looked at us and did two things - she smiled at me and whacked Dimitri behind his head.

"Good work, Roza. And you, how could you say something like that to the best thing in your life" she said and went on before us. Dimitri was shocked into silence, just like me. Olena was laughing behind her hand.

_'What the hell just happened - my grandmother never speaks English.' _Dimitri said.

_'Don't ask me, I thought she didn't like me.' _I answered him. Then we sat and started talking. We told them that we will tell them our story when everyone was home.

We waited for a couple hours, talking about what is happening with the Belikovs and the neighbourhood. Then we heard voices from outside - we all knew who they belonged to. The three sisters were home, at the same time there was noise from the upstairs room - the kids were up. And we heard a faint 'Mommy' from five more minutes footsteps were coming our way. Dimitri and I tensed. And then the girls and kids were in the door-frame frozen. Then there was an ear-shattering scream.

"Roza!" and my arms were filled with a crying youngest Belikov. "Oh, Roza, I'm so so sorry. I didn't know what I was saying, or thinking. When I woke up and you were gone I knew it was my fault. Then I asked Sonya and she said that what you said was true, and that made me even more ashamed and..." I made her stop by squeezing her tightly.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Vika, so stop apologizing. And it wasn't your fault that I was gone, I just had to finish what I came for...And I sort of did - I found your brother..." I couldn't continue because Paul yelled and ran towards us.

"Uncle Dimka, you are here! I missed you! Roza, you too! Uncle Dimka where were you, you made Mama, Babushka and Roza cry so much!" Paul was so cute when he was angry, especially at the 6'7 Russian god next to me. Dimitri, on the other hand, was taken aback by his nephew's protectiveness. That is when Victoria, Sonya and Karolina froze again, looking at Dimitri. Then everything happened in seconds, though to me it was like in slow-motion - Karolina pulled Paul to her and held stronger to Zoya, Sonya's hold on Anya also strengthened and Victoria took out a silver stake from somewhere while trying to shield everyone, even me.

"STOP!" I cried and went in front of Dimitri. Olena and Yeva stood beside me.

"Roza, how can you protect him? Mama, Babushka...? What?" Vika said, wonder coloring her voice.

"Vika, let them talk. We were waiting for you three to come home, so that we can hear their story,so let them talk." Olena said. They nodded half-heartedly and sat down. Paul pulled away from his mother and came to hug me first and then went to his uncle and hit him on the arm - it was funny to watch as a ten-year-old hit a fully grown man. Paul, then, came and sat down with me.

_'Should_ _I be jealous? It appears you have another admirer.' _Dimitri said in my head.

_'Don't worry, Comrade, I have eyes only for you. Though, he is cute. And it was funny to watch him beat you' _I said back to him and winked. Then we launched our story, we were talking one at a time and we were adding if the other missed somthing.

It took us full two hours to tell them everything that happened from the moment I left their house to the moment we boarded the plane here. There were lots of tears, hugs and words of gratitude. Olena was the first to realize that we have traveled for more than 12 hours and were tired.

"OK, you will have two weeks to catch up. Now Roza, Dimka, you need to rest. I will make you the room Roza used last time." she said and moved to the stairs. Dimitri and I went to the car to get our bags.

"See, they are excited to see you!" I told him once we were outside.

"Yeah, but they wouldn't be if they knew what I have done..." he couldn't continue because I slapped him lightly on the cheek.

"Enough, Comrade, I can't take anymore of your self-pity. Get over it already - that wasn't you. It was a monster, that had taken a part-time residence in you. Now that monster is gone, never to come back." I told him forcefully.

"Thank you, Roza. You always know how to remind me where and what I am. And thank you for bringing me back my family. It is even better now because you are here too. Though I am a little jealous that you knew some things before me, but I can forgive that..." he trailed off.

"Well, I'll see what I can do to make it up to you." I winked at him. Then we got back in the house, said goodnight to everyone and went to bed. It turned out that the room I stayed in last time, was his room before he went to America. Then we got in bed, both of us holding tightly the other, and went to sleep.

_'I love you, Dimitri.'_

_'I love you too, Roza.'  
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